The Nitpicker’s Nook is a monthly collection of language-related articles, interviews, and blog posts from around the Web. If you read something that would make a good addition, email your suggestion to [email protected].
By Robin Marwick
- When it seems like everyone you know is going to exciting conferences in exotic places, it’s easy to develop FOMO—Fear Of Missing Out. Luckily, says Dawn McIlvain Stahl, social media can help soothe your pangs of envy. (Copyediting.com)
- Like many freelancers, it took illustrator and author Lisa Congdon a long time to feel comfortable turning down work. In this post, she discusses the importance of saying no in order to protect your time and creativity. (Today Is Going To Be Awesome)
- All too often, a promising client-freelancer relationship founders because the two parties have assumptions and expectations that don’t match. Ruth E. Thaler-Carter has a list of questions to help clarify that relationship from the outset. (An American Editor)
- Perhaps because March 4 was National Grammar Day, many people have been musing about the evils of niggling, nagging, and nitpicking this month. James Harbeck has a request: let’s stop calling needless nitpickers “grammar Nazis” and use some more precise words instead. (Sesquiotica)
- While we’re on the topic of pedantry, Katherine Barber looks at some common words and usages that used to be considered very déclassé. (Wordlady)
- Finally, our EAC friends on the West Coast reviewed Yes, I Could Care Less: How to Be a Language Snob Without Being a Jerk by Bill Walsh. Reviewer Nancy Tinari calls it “a helpful book as well as an entertaining one.” (West Coast Editor)
Robin Marwick is a Toronto-based freelance editor, medical writer, content strategist, and dog lover.
This article was copy edited by Sabrina Rauscher.
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